Fog of War.
He couldn’t help grinning in fierce satisfaction after his divine foes had hounded him relentlessly the second he dared to leave the magnificent city of Yidushi, fleeing for his life and determined to rescue his friends along the way.
From that moment on, ancient deities playing a byzantine game involving the fates of billions of souls in a world so vast it left him breathless with awe had been doing everything they could to simultaneously tear away all his friends and resources while throwing him into the arms of countless enemies who wanted him dead, denying Alex even the virtue of Karma, the force that assured all good deeds done would ring sonorous in the annals of existence, so the Fates themselves would know when someone was worthy and true, even if their foes had smeared and vilified them at every turn.
Even that grace had been ruthlessly stripped from his soul.
But at the end, the very end, when Alex had reached a terrible place darker than despair, trying desperately to survive on nothing but Dark Qi in the middle of a massive lake while the powerful Silver-ranked cultivator whose city Alex had saved was trying to kill him, WiFu finally pulled a metaphoric ace from his sleeve, trumping all his divine brothers, and assuring that, from that day forward, no god or mortal agent acting on their behalf could ever spy on Alex or directly act against him, ever again.
Alex was sure there were limits. He had no doubt that if he managed to offend a city guard under no divine influence at all, he would be hunted down in an organized fashion with posters made, while his reputation in that city soured like milk left in the sun. And he could only hope the homicidal city lord whose town he had saved wasn’t even now putting out an absurd bounty on his head.
All good reasons to keep a low profile in the meantime, and take advantage of the fact that he now lived in a world where even the most magnificent city states of ten million happy, hardworking souls were separated by a ridiculous thousand or more miles from one another, such that the ten city states making up the principality whose capital city Alex was eventually planning on arriving at covered a surface area roughly equal to the continental U.S.
And most of that was pristine wilderness full of dangerous spirit beasts, exotic herbs, and lush foliage rich in elemental Qi, Alex happily wandering through one such forest at that very moment. And though any non-cultivating mortal who dared these woods without being part of a massive caravan was as likely as not to never come back at all, Alex felt utterly at peace, taking great comfort in his Bronze-ranked physical attributes, the tactics he had developed, and the internal Qi strike he had dedicated so much of himself to mastering.
Of course, what most assured his safety was his knack for sensing the location of pretty much anything not cloaked in Shadow Qi within sixty feet in any direction. Qi Perception wasn’t quite top-down vision; it was more as if all the ground was his metaphoric stretched out hand, and he could feel all the plants pressing gently down upon his skin, the skittering paws of squirrels retreating to the backsides of the trees Alex passed, and the stalking footsteps of predators that might think Alex a tasty meal.
Such as the spirit beast leaping down from the branches at that very moment, just a heartbeat away from tearing his throat out.
Quickness check made!
Between one heartbeat and the next, Alex spun about, catching sight of the massive spirit leopard’s jaws before weaving aside, lashing out with his fist as fast as thought, his Bronze Rank 2 Strength combined with 7 Ranks of White Crane and 6 Ranks of Silver Swan kung fu coming together in a devastating counterstrike that would have shattered the ribcage of any lion, even without Alex unleashing his favorite Qi-boosted attack.
But this was no mortal creature. It was a half-mythical spirit beast, and stronger than any lion on Earth, with powerful Qi energies reinforcing its bones and musculature, almost as if it were a body cultivator like Alex himself was.
Nonetheless, Alex’s powerful blow was enough to bruise flesh, crack at least one bone, and get the fearsome cat’s attention as it spun around and roared at him.
And Alex couldn’t help roaring back, never having felt so alive and filled with a hunter’s strength as he did at that moment, laughing at the fierce yellow eyes widening in feline surprise.
“I’ve sensed you stalking me for the last mile! You’re a beautiful enough creature that I was going to let you live, but the minute you proved yourself a man eater was the minute I declared you dinner.”
The creature blinked at this and time seemed to slow and stretch as Alex lowered his balance even further and prepared to unleash a devastating series of strikes that would tear his foe to shredded meat and shattered bone.
Before the spirit leopard turned around and darted away with a startled yowl that reminded Alex so much of his beloved grumpy cat from a lifetime ago that he couldn’t help laughing, suddenly not having the heart to follow. “You better stay away from people, friend, or next time I’ll be the one ambushing you!” Alex shouted with a smile, almost wondering if the creature really could understand him, and maybe if he should have hunted it down after all.
He shook his head with a sigh. The beast was now well out of his range, and as ruthless as Alex could sometimes be, he had always liked cats, and save for packs stalking him in the netherworld which he had been all too happy to take down first, he was content to leave them be.
So long as they showed him the same courtesy.
Alex took a deep breath and concentrated, getting an even clearer sense of the Qi flow of his surroundings, detecting no other spirit beasts or other creatures of significance looking his way. Just the gentle gathering of rich woodland Qi in various fruits and nuts he was happy to harvest from trees absolutely filled with the forest’s bounty, soon collecting for himself a delicious feast of apples riper and walnuts larger and more golden in hue than he could have ever gotten in any supermarket back on Earth.
And that was the real secret to how this empire was able to sustain so many cities with such booming populations while the rest of the world was left to thrive in natural splendor.
The spiritual energy that saturated every living plant within this forest and the small farms that took advantage of this phenomenon by growing crops in or at the boundaries of these woodlands meant that countless farmers using what Alex might have considered ancient technology were nonetheless able to reap bountiful crops that would have astounded any Terran farmer.
Of course, it was all about balance.
It was all about having enough wild forests to absorb what most thought of as waste Qi surrounding the major cities, and ten million souls certainly generated enough spiritual and physical waste for the forests to thrive for hundreds of miles in all directions. So too, crops grown far from the city with wilds all around brought forth such a bounty so rich in life-giving Qi that even the most desperate paupers in the city could potentially make their fortunes as farmers or gatherers daring the outskirts of the great forests, so long as they were willing to work hard and had just a bit of luck.
And the rulers of this world were not fools. So long as farmers brought in a constant supply of the livestock and produce the cities needed to feed their countless millions, frontier folk were pretty much left to govern themselves. The promise of coin and luxuries from the city and ability to live life on their own terms were the only enticements citizens needed to keep risking the wildlands and all its inherent dangers, growing the crops needed to feed an empire.
An empire in nominal command of a score of kingdoms, each controlling territory equal to the landmass of Earth, each principality within each kingdom controlling territory equal to the continental United States even if, in actual fact, only ten major cities spread out over thousands of miles were all the official government of each principality even bothered with, allowing the countless thousands of towns, villages, and farming communities between each grand walled city of ten million or more to rule themselves as they saw fit.
An empire with the combined land mass of twenty Earths, cont
rolling roughly two thousand massive cities with a total population of twenty billion or more. And between those vast walled centers of commerce and trade? Countless millions of towns, villages, and farming communities no administrator would dream of trying to keep track of, left pretty much alone by the official powers, so long as they did their duty and kept the major cities fed.
It was all about connections, Alex supposed.
Each massive city was connected by a mystical High Road of shimmering spiritual energy that would allow the royal legions to cross the thousand miles between cities in a day. And every city within every principality within every kingdom within the impossibly vast empire was connected by those bridges, such that it might take a person less than a year to cross a kingdom many times the size of very planet Alex had once called home.
But when it came to traveling beyond the city walls, there were no magical roads one could make use of. There was only conveyance by the most mundane means imaginable. Foot, carriage, or horse, unless you were one of the very few cultivators so powerful as to actually be able to fly.
Of course, the major trade roads themselves had mystical origins and radiated a faint Qi that gifted cultivators could take advantage of, but that was no more useful than a story spun to while away the hours for the average traveler. It was the fact that they were all perfectly straight and forever in pristine condition that made them so useful.
But even with roads that would have been the envy of any nation back on Earth before the modern era, a trip between cities that would take a day by High Road would take a month or longer by horse and wagon.
As a result, no one bothered policing the myriad small communities living in harmony with the surrounding wilderness, rulers having long ago determined that the most cost-effective means of enticing farmers to do their utmost to feed the massive cities making up the empire was to simply pay them a fair price for their livestock and produce.
And for all its risks, there was no more fertile soil than that which could be found deep in the wilds, assuring multiple bumper crops, all year around.
And so here, to a degree almost unheard of in Earth’s history, there was the potential for any man or woman, no matter how precarious their original circumstances, to make their fortunes growing rich, bountiful harvests in lands saturated with spiritual energy.
Of course, Alex knew that making a living out in the wilderness for most mortals lacking a cultivator’s strength and power was never easy. There were the ever-present threats of bandits, spirit beasts, and the wilderness itself, if a farming community dared clear more land than the forest was willing to give. Significant challenges that any brave band of farmers and settlers starting their own community would have to contend with.
Still, it wasn’t that long ago that Alex had befriended a clan of farmers bringing wagon-loads of goods to the Erjizhen market who seemed happy enough with their lives, grateful to be well-fed and making a profit despite the dangers and perils of frontier life.
He smiled in fond memory of Cai Gen, a garrulous old farmer with a pair of beautiful granddaughters Alex had saved from a band of slavers. The old farmhand had proven a knowledgeable resource and, Alex now thought, was a lot more than he had seemed at first. The fact that Alex had found it so difficult to sense the man’s strength should have been clue enough. Had Cai Gen’s family not been forced to face infernal cultivators as well as slavers, Alex thought they just might have come out ahead, even without his help.
As it stood, Alex could only hope that the man and his kin were prospering, and that his beautiful granddaughters had found cheerful, hardworking husbands that would keep them safe, soothe their fears, and fill their lives with happiness.
Alex smiled at the lush green forest canopy rustling overhead, effortlessly leaping for and plucking free a particularly ripe-looking apple amongst countless scores hanging from the branches above him, Alex now making his way through a grove of fruit trees, no doubt planted by farmers long ago. Perhaps one of the many farming communities Alex was given to understand were sometimes destroyed by the very forests they harvested and profited from, when hungry young farmers lacking the wisdom of their elders spread themselves too far, too wide, making no attempts to live in harmony with the forest, but instead cutting large swaths down.
Only for those communities to disappear forever, mysterious glades filled with carefully-planted rows of bumper crops or groves of fruit trees rustling happily besides dozens of other nearby species the only traces of their existence to be found.
Or such were the stories Cai Gen and his granddaughters had enjoyed telling, and Alex had seen the shadows of fear behind their playful smiles, having no doubt that there was at least a bit of truth to those tales.
Alex, now very much embracing the cycle of life, death, and rebirth that was the forest in all its glory, was content to pluck its fruit or hunt its denizens only when hunger struck, leaving gifts of fertile night soil in turn, with no intentions of cutting down a single grand tree, assumed he was safe from any sort of arboreal retribution. Certainly, he felt nothing but the calm echo of the forest’s Qi; Earth, Water, and Wood all resonating in harmony with one another.
He couldn’t help but frown, feeling its own cycle was complete, for all that it lacked the element of fire, the wood feeding on the rich earthen soil directly.
Then he grinned, realizing his mistake as he felt the warmth of the sun on his back. Of course. Water nurtured the roots just as the sun provided the Fire element to the rustling leaves overhead, serving as the connection between Wood and Earth. For no tree would grow in soil without the sun’s gentle light.
As for Metal? Alex knew from chemistry class a lifetime ago that traces of iron, copper, and numerous other metals vital to life could be found in fertile soil. So, he supposed the five elements did balance, and quite nicely as well, in addition to Air, Lightning, perhaps the original evolutionary catalyst for life, and the Spirit of consciousness or the soul. Eight positive or Light Qi elements that were Alex’s own, in addition to the Dark Qi of destruction, transformation, and change, that together made up his affinities.
And how the trials he had endured had shaped his potential like never before, he thought, taking a moment to gaze with bemused wonder at his three transcendent Bronze cords that he hoped would one day serve as the key to ascending beyond what any cultivator had ever achieved before.
Alex chuckled ruefully, already having paid a terrible price for his daring, and knowing he had just begun to pay the tab on whatever bill might eventually lead to his transcendence.
As incredibly powerful as the foundation that he was forging himself was, he knew all too well the terrible cost in quantized potential, beast cores, spirit pearls, even the Soul Stones vital to cultivating in all future lives, for each transcendent Bronze cord he forged. Or to put it another way, the ridiculous amount of experience that each rank of his absurd prestige class required of him.
He knew it would be worth it when he finally transcended to Silver and began his journey to Gold and beyond. But for now, he despaired of forging his final four Bronze cords without somehow earning an absolute flood of experience.
“Worries for another time,” he said to himself, knowing he had already progressed far beyond what even the most gifted cultivator embracing the most clear-cut path should be able to accomplish in a single year, and he was determined to savor this day, at least, free of all worries and care.
He smiled then, inhaling a delicious bouquet of scents, savoring the fragrance of cherry blossoms and countless wildflowers perfuming the air. At that moment he strove to put aside all questions of his future, choosing instead to simply embrace the present and live, for a time, from one peaceful moment to the next.
Within moments, he was one with the golden shafts of sunlight, one with the vibrant trees growing tall and proud with a bounty of fruit hanging from their boughs all around him. He began to feel like an extension of the forest, Qi Perception and his odd meditative state fusing into a s
ingle glorious whole, such that he felt like he was one with the ebb and flow of life and death in this glorious forest of life and wonder, predators and prey, a harmonious whole both serene and savage, fitting his own temperament perfectly.
When a hawk cried and a mouse froze in terror, he felt the exultation of the predator, the brief flicker of terror from his prey. As if they were both extensions of himself. For he was now one with the forest, and the cultivator known as Alex was just an extension he could move about at will.
Congratulations, you have achieved a new meditative state! You are now One with the Forest! You can sense the whereabouts of all creatures of significance, and woodland spiritual treasures will never again evade your notice! Note: your connection goes both ways. You intuitively sense just how much the forest is willing to give a skilled hunter never hesitating to leave his spore, and will instinctually know what treasures you must leave behind.
Forest Sense is now Rank 1!
And this time when he heard the soft footpads of a stalking leopard, he didn’t hesitate to flash a smile just as feral as the cat preparing for his pounce, and in a single surprised heartbeat, the predator became the prey.
2
Bullrush and Adderstrike successfully used in tandem!
You have fatally struck your target!
Countless days had passed since his woodland transcendence, and though time had become fluid and ephemeral, he still savored every hunt like it was his first.
He felt a moment’s fierce satisfaction when the spirit boar he was aiming for all but exploded under his deadly heel stomp, having come damn close to perfecting the technique of swooping down upon his chosen prey foot first and smashing through his target with the extreme power and momentary invulnerability he achieved at the moment of impact, channeling Adderstrike not with his hands or shins, but with the heels of his feet.
Silver Fox & The Western Hero: Warrior Redeemed: A LitRPG/Wuxian Novel - Book 5 Page 2
